A lot of people must have a lot of things they want to forget, cos here's yet another post about yet another attempt to make an Eternal Sunshine-like memory-erasing drug.

A new study led by researchers at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress, affiliated with the University of Montreal, shows that in fact, metyrapone, a drug that temporarily alters cortisol levels can be used to dampen an old, negative memory for days and possibly the long term.

"It gives us a second chance, basically, to act on the memory," said Marie-France Marin, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

That makes it potentially very useful, because most memories that cause problems are older rather than newly formed.

"Soldiers, for example, or rape victims, are not going to go to the emergency room within an hour, obviously," Marin said Thursday. (Source)

Another article, about the same thing, is here.

Meanwhile io9 have a neat, extensive wrap-up of some stories they've done (and by "some" I mean "a lot") on memory in general and memory erasure in particular. Plenty of cool stuff there, you should check it out.

I don't have many things I wish I could forget. This depresses me. Instead I have an encyclopedic list of things I know I'll one day regret not doing. Y'know? And even knowing that, I'm still here, not doing those things. It's a cycle.

Thanks to Laurel and Jean-Philippe!